Starchitects Refocus Energies On the Little People

Nicolai Ouroussoff makes an interesting point in his review of Richard Meier’s design for a mixed-income project called Teachers Village in Newark. Starchitects, it seems, are starting to once again design for the little people:

Teachers Village is not only the most impressive of several new initiatives in Newark, but also the most dramatic example yet of what is shaping up to be a significant and hopeful trend in architecture. After a long period in which America’s greatest talents seemed to work almost exclusively at the service of the wealthy, there are signs that their efforts are trickling down to other segments of society. In New York, for example, Annabelle Selldorf, best known for the exacting precision of her gallery designs and loft renovations—and for revamping the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel—is about to break ground on a recycling plant on the Brooklyn waterfront; she may soon start work on another in the Bronx. Michael Maltzan, the architect behind the Museum of Modern Art’s temporary home in Queens during its last renovation, as well as homes for major art collectors, recently completed his second housing project for the homeless in six years, and is now working on his third.